Firstly, I never got a chance to write about it before, but I had an amazing time at Atomic Lollipop. I went into the con with moderate expectations, but I came out of it feeling reinvigorated regarding conventions. I had the most fun at APOP that I've had at any con in years. I loved checking out the exhibits at the Science Centre. A few new galleries had opened since I had last been there several years ago so I enjoyed seeing the new things and I really liked the con events that I attended. I participated in a few crafting sessions. I made a plush Calcifer from Howl's Moving Castle, a Sailor Moon locket shrinky dink keychain and a cheesy felt crown. I checked out the bouncy arena and some of the exotic animals that had been brought for the event. Pan and I had an artist draw us together as chibis and I loved the resulting picture. Everything came together to make it a lovely weekend! I did wear my Halloween summer dress and my Tennis Princess Peach costume. I didn't bother Cosplaying on Sunday and that was a great decision as it made the last day stress free. I did a shoot with Elemental of the Halloween dress so hopefully those photos will be coming in the next few weeks. I can't wait for the convention next year! If it's back at the Ontario Science Centre then I will definitely go back again!

Having such a good time at APOP got me excited for conventions next year so I finally figured out car and hotel roommates for Colossalcon and I booked a hut room. I'll be travelling with Stillvisions and Ammie. After attending Atomic Lollipop, I have high expectations that with the resort amenities, it'll be a wonderful weekend! (^^) I've been meaning to go to Colossal for several years so I'm glad it's finally happening. Too bad so many of my Canadian friends won't be going anymore, but I think it'll be a great weekend regardless.

In other news, last night I launched a new look for my Cosplay site over on my domain, Straywind.com. My awesome friend Pan made the layout and it took me a little while to edit all the pages so I could post it. There are still a few bugs to work out that I'll be working on tonight. Some rollover image effect code in the costume gallery breaks while viewing the site on mobile devices so I need to whip up an alternate page for the gallery. Other than that, I love how it turned out. (^^) I have full galleries of my costumes and costume descriptions. You can really see how far I've come as a Cosplayer.

As for the rest of the summer, August is looking to be pretty relaxing as I'm not going to Otakuthon this year. I'm hoping to do a Tennis Princess Peach shoot with Elemental at some point this month or next month at a tennis court. I'm also really hoping I can get some photos of my China Sherry costume. I would love nice outdoor photos of Princess Peach, but given how big and bulky the dress is, I don't think that's going to happen. Not sure if I'll try to get pictures of anything else, but those are the costumes that I want to focus on. I can't believe summer is already half over!

Finally, I went fabric shopping with Pan a couple of weeks ago and I was able to find a really nice wool fabric to use to make Madoka's school uniform skirt from Madoka Magica. I've loved the look of the uniforms from Madoka since I watched the Anime a year or two ago so I'm planning to make the costume this year and I'll wear it to conventions in 2015. I don't have a wig or any other fabric for the costume yet so it might take a while to get this costume off the ground, but I'm really excited to Cosplay Madoka. I also now have fabric to make a new blouse for my Usagi school uniform. This time it'll be the summer version thanks to a pattern Pan has drafted. I may not be attending many Cosplay events now, but it's going to be a busy fall with sewing!

Pan wants a copy of the chibi art so at some point I'll have to scan it. Maybe I'll post it online when I scan it. The artist did such a lovely job on it.

Thanks for the compliment on the new layout! I'm so pleased with it. I had been meaning to make a new layout for my site for a few years. I know the original design was super clunky and outdated. XD My website feels really fresh now so I appreciate Pan helping me out with that.

Thanks! I actually had some trepidation about the con going into it, but I had such a great time. I hear that it'll be back there next year and I hope that's the case!

The Madoka uniforms are just so nicely constructed. I can't believe how much I love the design. XD I hope you also Cosplay from Madoka! I wish I could fast forward to when I get this costume done so I can wear it already. XD